Fresh Milled Matters - Note No. 1
What we're up to here
When Robert and I started talking seriously about what we were putting on our family's table, I didn't have a nutrition degree or a food science background. We just wanted to bring more nutritious food to our family. So I went looking for something better — and what I found sent me down a rabbit hole I'm still exploring.
Fresh Milled Matters is where I share what's in that rabbit hole. Some of it is stuff I figured out the hard way in my own kitchen. Some of it I'm still working through. All of it is honest and pragmatic.
I'm going to share recipes, techniques, and the occasional tool I found that I can't put down. Everything here is centered on one thing: making the switch from commercial flour to fresh-milled whole wheat attainable and affordable for a real kitchen, with a real schedule, feeding a real family. Hopefully yours.
The promise we made at our booths
If you stopped by our booths this weekend, you probably walked away with our Fresh-Milled Quick Reference card. That card exists because fresh-milled flour does behave differently than what you're used to — more water, faster rise, stickier dough. Those are real adjustments you'll need for most recipes.
But not this one.
This is my Honey Wheat Sandwich Bread — tailored for Cross Timbers flour. Don't add water. Don't expect a faster rise. Just follow it as written. We tested it so you don't have to wonder.
This is the loaf I'm most proud of right now. It's soft, it's light with just enough chew to remind you it's real bread — and I can take it from flour to cooling on the rack in three hours. It makes a great grilled cheese, and a really good cold sandwich the next day.
But I'm not done with it yet. The dough is soft and workable, and the loaf holds together beautifully — I just want a little more give before it crumbles. Not a lot. Just enough. And I'm going to find it without adding dough conditioners. That's the promise I made myself when I started down this road, and I'm keeping it.
That's what Fresh Milled Matters is. This recipe, right now, is the best version I know how to make. Next month it might be better. Come along.
Shawn's Fresh-Milled Honey Wheat Sammich Loaf
This recipe will fit in a standard 9x4 loaf pan. However, this recipe makes large slices of bread in that size pan and, given the significantly more filling nature of using fresh-milled flour, we find those slices to be a bit too large.
We use a 12x4 pan we purchased online, made by Wilton. We've found these longer loaf pans make more, smaller slices of bread. This makes our loaves go further with less over-eating.
The Sponge
255ml water (1 cup + 1 tablespoon)
80ml whole milk — whole A2 milk is our preference (1/3 cup)
260g Cross Timbers Core Blend flour (2 cups)
7g active dry yeast (2¼ teaspoons)
Warm the water and milk together to about 110°F.
Mix in the flour and yeast.
Cover with a towel and let rest until doubled — about 30 to 40 minutes.
The Dough
43g softened butter (3 tablespoons)
63g honey (3 tablespoons)
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons salt
173g Cross Timbers Core Blend flour (1⅓ cups)
Add all dough ingredients to your sponge.
Using the dough hook attachment, mix on medium speed for 8 to 12 minutes until the dough reaches windowpane consistency.
Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough inside and turn to coat.
Cover with a towel and let rise until doubled — about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Oil your pan, your hands, and your work surface.
Shape the dough into a loaf and place it in the pan.
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Position your rack in the lower third of the oven.
Cover with a towel and let rise until the loaf is domed and puffy — about 20 to 30 minutes.
Bake uncovered for 20 minutes.
Loosely tent the pan with foil and continue baking 15 to 20 minutes, until a thermometer reads 195°F at the center, or the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on top.
Remove from the oven. Allow the loaf to cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. You can cool it in the pan or turn it out onto a wire rack — either works.
Shawn's Notes
On the apple cider vinegar — don't skip it. You won't taste it, but you'll notice it in the texture.
On windowpane — pinch a golf ball-sized piece of dough and gently stretch it thin. You're looking for the dough to stretch translucent before it tears — you should be able to see light through it. Because of the bran in fresh-milled flour, your windowpane won't be as dramatic as you might expect from commercial flour.
On oil vs. flour during dough shaping — because fresh-milled flour dough is stickier, I have found that oil works better. Adding too much flour, especially at this stage, where it won't have time to absorb moisture, can make your bread dry and crumbly.
All good recipes are inspired by those who came before us. This one is no different. While tailoring this recipe, I was inspired by my dad, Southern Living magazine, and Sally's Baking Addiction, to name a few.
— Shawn
Thank you for supporting our soft launch!
Our official launch is coming in June — dates are still being finalized, but when we're ready, you'll be the first to know. You signed up early, before there was anything to buy. That means something to us.
In the meantime — make the bread. Then come find us on Facebook or Instagram and show us what came out of your oven. Tag us, DM us, or just drop a comment. We want to see your baked goods.
Fresh-Milled · Field to Table
